A fan-made Pokémon game has been removed from the internet by its creators, just days after it was released.

The unauthorised Pokémon Uranium launched last week, after nine years in development. Yet legal action from Nintendo, which filed takedown notices to multiple sites hosting the installation package for the game, has seen it almost instantly removed.

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In a statement, one of the game's creators – known as Twitch – confirmed the game would no longer be distributed.

"We have been notified of multiple takedown notices from lawyers representing Nintendo of America," they wrote. "While we have not personally been contacted, it’s clear what their wishes are, and we respect those wishes deeply. Therefore, we will no longer provide official download links for the game through our website."

This being the internet, it may already be too late to have any effect on Uranium's availability though. Despite Nintendo's swift legal action and the developer's removal of the game, Pokémon Uranium has been downloaded by more than 1.5m people already.

On top of that, as the game was developed for PC and offered as an .msi installation package, there's no stopping interested parties hosting or distributing the game elsewhere. In short: there's no putting the genie back in the bottle.

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This is something Twitch attempts to distance the 'official' Uranium fan-devs from, saying: "We have no connection to fans who reupload the game files to their own hosts, and we cannot verify that those download links are all legitimate. We advise you to be extremely cautious about downloading the game from unofficial sources."

While Pokémon Uranium was no doubt a breach of the official Pokémon trademarks and copyright, there's also no denying it was an ambitious project. The game featured 150 brand-new creatures to capture and battle, a new Pokémon type - nuclear - a lengthy story, and online features. Hopefully, the creators can put their talents to use on some original IP in the future.

In the meantime, the next real entries in the Pokémon franchise, Sun and Moon, launch for Nintendo 3DS on 23 November. There are plenty of new features and Pokémon to catch - but no nuclear type.